Heera
Heera Training and Management Consultancy

eNewsletter February 2011

Dear Everyone,


Hi! And how are you all? January was a great month. Just enough work to be busy but at the same time enough time to take a short holiday in Ho Chih Minh city. Oh, and lots and lots of time was spent watching the Australian Open Tennis tournament. I was rooting for Li Na but unfortunately it was not to be. But she sure as hell charmed not only the Australians but also the world with her charming personality and her witty remarks. I am most certain she has set the stage for lots of tennis champions to come out of China in the years to come.

During my visit to Ho Chih Minh city, I took the opportunity to go to the War Museum. It was not a pleasant visit because it was depressing to see some of the things that took place during the Vietnam War. Most of the items were pictures, so that visitors could not only see the terrible atrocities that occurred, but also get to ‘feel’ it. The one thing that stood out was the human suffering that occurred during the war. I came out depressed, but with one very strong thought in my mind and that is it reinforced the idea in me that war is a terrible, terrible way to resolve conflicts. The human cost is incalculable.




War takes place when countries come into direct military conflict. And war is strange, because in peace time, if you were to kill someone, you would be charged with murder. On the other hand, in war, the more you kill, the more you would be honoured, feted and decorated. And at the end of the day, you kill someone only because he is wearing a different uniform. Your emotions and feelings become numb because you know that if you do not kill that person, he may in turn kill you.

War is also terrible, because it makes sane people do insane things. The My Lai massacre in Vietnam and the incidents at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq are testament to that. Closer to home, my father used to talk a lot about the terrible things the Japanese did in Malaysia during the 2nd World War. I have some very good Japanese friends and I cannot for the life of me imagine them committing atrocities and yet, I know from the history of warfare that nice, rational, god fearing people will commit all manner of terrible things because ‘war tends to make you insane’. The pictures in the War Museum were testament to that fact. My hope and prayer is that we will never, ever have to undergo a war situation in this country. And my hope is that all politicians make a visit to the War museum in Ho Chih Minh city, so that they will be fully aware of the terrible consequences of war before they make that decision to go into conflict with another country!

Thank you very much for reading this newsletter. I do hope you have found it fruitful and most importantly, I do hope that it has made you see war in a negative light. Happy Chinese New Year and may you all have a great time during the holidays!

 

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